If you think of a commercial truck, you might think about the semi-trailers that you may encounter on America’s highways. They transport freight between states, and sometimes from one side of the country to the other. However, commercial trucks also include UPS vehicles, ones from Amazon, and others that deliver packages in residential neighborhoods.
In 2019, commercial trucks caused over 5K fatal accidents, and you will see similar numbers in most other years. If a commercial truck killed one of your loved ones, then that’s a heartbreaking situation. You may feel uncertain about what to do next if that happens.
In this article, we will talk about some steps that you might take if this occurs. No two people will probably have exactly the same reaction if a loved one dies in a commercial truck accident, but you should at least consider some of these options.
First, You Must Determine Who Caused the Accident
After a commercial truck kills your loved one, it’s natural that you will have a lengthy mourning period. If you lost a child, a spouse, or someone else close to you, then you’ll realize that your life going forward will look a lot different.
However, you will still want to take legal action relatively quicky if you feel like that’s the best path forward for you. Part of that usually involves figuring out whether you can blame someone for the crash besides your deceased loved one.
You’ll Want to Consult a Lawyer
You will probably want to consult a personal injury lawyer to try and figure out whether you have a potential lawsuit on your hands. If your loved one caused the accident with the commercial truck that killed them, then there’s probably little you can do to get financial restitution. You likely can’t win a lawsuit if it’s obvious that your loved one caused their own demise through reckless driving or some similar behavior.
If you tell the lawyer what happened, though, and they inform you that it seems as though you can sue someone and potentially collect some money, you may want to do that. You will presumably want to do it to balance the scales of justice, but you may also need money badly, particularly if the accident killed your household’s main breadwinner.
You and Your Lawyer Can Discuss Who You Might Sue
You and your lawyer will need to look at the facts of the case to determine who you can sue. For instance, if you can prove that the commercial truck’s driver exceeded the speed limit egregiously and caused the wreck that killed your loved one, then you can probably bring a lawsuit against them for negligence. If you can prove that they consumed alcohol or recreational drugs before operating the truck, then you can bring a lawsuit for that reason as well.
However, you might also have cause to sue the delivery company or the trucking company. For instance, if you can prove that the truck driver’s boss encouraged or forced them to exceed the speed limit to deliver the truck’s cargo faster, you can probably try to hold them liable. If you can prove that the mechanic who worked on the truck didn’t do their job correctly, and a mechanical issue caused the accident, then you might hold them responsible instead.
You Must Gather Evidence
Maybe you and your attorney suspect that the driver, the trucking company, the mechanic, or someone or something else caused the accident. However, you will next need to collect evidence that proves that.
Your lawyer will probably have an investigator working for them, if not more than one. They will need to try to uncover as much tangible evidence as possible that you can use to put pressure on the individual or entity that you’re suing.
They might look for eyewitnesses who saw what happened. For example, if another employee of the trucking company saw the truck’s driver ingest alcohol before they drove, you can call that witness to the stand if the lawsuit ever gets to the trial phase. If the driver took a breathalyzer test at the scene and failed it, then you can use that as evidence as well.
Your lawyer’s investigator might find expert witnesses who your attorney can call to the stand if that seems appropriate. You might enter video of the accident into evidence if any exists.
The more physical and anecdotal evidence that you can find that indicates someone other than your loved one caused the accident, the more likely that you can get a satisfactory resolution to the lawsuit.
You Can Try Forcing a Settlement Offer
The more evidence you and your lawyer can collect, the more likely it becomes that you can force a settlement offer. That’s because the defendant might not want to ever appear in court if it seems obvious that you have abundant evidence proving their guilt.
They might offer you a settlement amount. You will need to think about it to see if it seems fair. If you don’t think that it does, then you can propose a counteroffer. If the defendant or defendants won’t pay it, then you can go to trial.
You Can Take the Case to Trial if Necessary
Not many commercial truck accidents ever go all the way through the trial phase, but some of them do. If the defendant doesn’t feel like you have enough evidence that will convince a jury of your argument’s validity, or they’re stubborn, then they might decide to battle it out with you, along with their lawyer’s help. These cases can become very contentious if that happens.
If, at some point during the trial, it becomes evident that the defendant will likely lose the case, then they might relent and offer you more money. If you accept it, that won’t bring your loved one back, but at least you will feel like you got some justice in their memory.
